As a result of the National Conference of the Canadian Society for Education Through Art held in Fredericton in 2011, representatives from various educational institutes including the New Brunswick College of Craft & Design, the University of New Brunswick, and the New Brunswick Community College formed a working committee that would investigate the possibility of establishing a Centre for Creativity.

In March 2015, the Atlantic Centre for Creativity was established. The Committee collaborated to develop a formal proposal to host the centre at the University of New Brunswick.

In order to promote the interdisciplinary nature of the Centre, The Year of Creativity was initiated by the Committee to including a wide variety of events related to creativity, design, innovation and entrepreneurship taking place throughout the 2015-2016 academic year.